Page 135 of Seven Oars
Her eyes searched his scarred face.
Now it was hard to imagine that this man had once held her in his arms, willing her to live.
He was a stranger. A pirate. A massive alien with inhuman black eyes.
“She was in Massar’s sleeping node,” Esseh answered his question after a small pause.
Rosamma’s hands jerked reflexively, her bracelets chiming. She briefly felt the weight of Fincros’attention settle on her.
Esseh faded out of sight, uninterested in the procedure and likely relieved that the Striker was here to take over.
Fincros advanced on Phex.“You are a defender. It is your job to protect the females, is it not?”
Phex shifted on his feet, and Daphne’s arm slipped, hanging limply.
“You and your games, pirate scum,” he spat.“Don’t blame me when you’re just as guilty. You know you have a twisted screwball on your crew, and you allow him to run unchecked.”
Fincros cocked his head.
“How are your skills in handling the power matrix? Oxygen and pressure regulation?” he asked, seemingly at random.
Phex’s voice was loaded with disdain.“I’m a trained pilot. I know all basic systems. But you’re mad if you think I’ll work for you.”
“Then Massar stays alive.”
Phex’s expression remained cold and closed.“Then it was your decision that split her in half.”
The barb struck home, and Fincros exhaled with a powerful whoosh.“I don’t break females. It’s only fun to break you.”
He turned to the panel on the wall and activated the airlock.
The technology took its time, hissing and clicking, preparing the inner chamber to receive… trash.
“You can’t break a defender.” Phex curled a lip at him, revealing his massive blue fangs.
“It’s an easy lie to hide behind,” Fincros said, unimpressed by Phex’s display of teeth.“And you’ve violated defender tenets, so you’re no longer one.”
Phex laughed, a rough, bitter sound.“Since you seem to know about defender tenets, you must know it’s not a shirt you can put on and take off. We’re bred before we’re trained. Does it chafe you, Striker?”
There was a stillness about Fincros that was deep and emotional.
“Yes, it does chafe me, defender,” he admitted quietly.“More than you can ever know.”
The aperture of the airlock opened and gaped, waiting.
Snarling, Phex shoved Daphne’s body inside the chamber, folding her to make her fit. The cover slipped from her body, and her exposed insides shifted around.
It broke something inside Rosamma.
“No!” She lurched forward, only to be snatched from behind.“It’s so cold out there. She will be cold… Please…”
Phex backed away from the chute.“Enjoy the funeral,Striker. You deserve every minute of it.”
Rosamma trembled with sorrow and anguish.
“Why is this happening?” She twisted to look at Fincros’indifferent, scarred face.“Who needs all this dying? Do you?”
His hands fell from her waist.
